Netflix’s Sabrina TV Show Has No Plans Yet to Crossover With Riverdale

Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has no plans yet to crossover with Riverdale, with which it shares a comic universe. The series, a spinoff of the popular teen soap, was originally being developed at Riverdale‘s network, The CW, but moved to Netflix after the streaming giant offered a longer deal. It has since received a two season, 20-episode order with production to begin in February. A release date has been set for later this year.

Despite the change in network, its creative team remains intact. Riverdale showrunner and Archie Comics chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will serve as executive producer and writer, while Lee Toland Krieger, who helmed four of Riverdale‘s season 1 episodes, will direct. He’ll also executive produce alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater. Coupled with the fact that The CW and Netflix seem to be friendly (streaming Riverdale‘s first season on the site helped expand the show’s audience and drive viewers back for season 2), a crossover wouldn’t be difficult to map out.

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Nonetheless, CW boss Mark Pedowitz told Archie Digest: A Riverdale Podcast co-host Chris Hayner that there were no plans to take that route just yet. For now, Netflix is focused on establishing Sabrina as its own entity, though they seem open to re-exploring the prospect down the line.

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Hayner explained:

“Based on what [Pedowitz] said, they are completely focused on getting Sabrina off the ground on Netflix and not thinking about crossovers at all, but they hope there might be a possibility sometime in the future. But they want to establish Sabrina as its own entity on Netflix before they even start thinking about it.”

It’s also worth mentioning that a crossover would, at least tangentially, introduce Sabrina‘s supernatural elements to the world of Riverdale, which thus far has stuck firmly to its eerie but earthly aesthetic. It’s another direction Aguirre-Sacasa has expressed interest in, but isn’t quite ready to embrace. It makes sense to hold off until Riverdale is ready for that kind of shift.

Assuming The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is successful, however, an eventual crossover seems inevitable. Like Riverdale, the show will take on a dark, horror-tinged tone markedly different from the sitcom-style Sabrina series that ran from 1996 to 2003. Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka will star in the titular role, a half-witch, half-mortal wrestling with her dual identities while trying to protect those around her from the forces of evil. And it’s said to be in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, which, supernatural aspects aside, should put it right in-line with Riverdale‘s Twin Peaks-esque tenor. Not to mention that The CW’s DC lineup has turned crossovers into an annual event; connecting Riverdale and Sabrina would be well within their wheelhouse. It just may take some time to get there.